XL Construction

First major milestone at CommonSpirit - Folsom Ranch. 👏🏼 Pour day success is built long before the trucks arrive. Thank you to all of our trades and design partners for the effort and coordination thus far. Let’s go vertical! 🏗️ XL Construction NexCore Group Perkins&Will

Today is the day. After over 34 years in this industry, I am retiring. I do so with mixed emotions. I am excited about the next phase in life but also very aware that there is loss involved. My reflections on my career mirror this understanding. There are memorable projects, some of which continue to have meaningful impact on the communities in which I worked. Yet, those projects are not front of mind in my reflections. That focus belongs to the people I have been truly privileged to work with. There are people in our industry who are passionate about their craft. There are people who truly care about others. I have been fortunate to work with people who have both attributes. This has been the constant in my career. This was either due to luck or because I cared more about who I would be working with than I cared about the name on the door. Most likely, it is a little of each. I owe so much to so many people. Mentors who fundamentally shaped my professional perspective and philosophies. They impacted both my career and personal life. A particular shout-out to Murray Bawden (former Chairman of Howard S. Wright) who taught all of us servant leadership and relentlessly preached “put people before profit and profit will follow.” To leaders who provided stretch-assignments and other experiences that fueled my development. Brad Nydal (former CEO Howard S. Wright) and John Tremper (former CFO Howard S. Wright) gave me the opportunity to participate in board meetings as the company Secretary in my mid-thirties. What a learning opportunity that was! To Eric Raff (former CEO XL Construction) who took a risk and hired someone who did not fit the stereotype for a construction company COO. He is a rare founder that always viewed himself as a “steward of the company” rather than the “owner”. He instilled that belief in everyone he worked with. To those that were part of the leadership teams I was part of. This is especially true in the last 12 years at XL Industries and Graham. We challenged, inspired and most importantly supported each other. Finally, and very importantly, to everyone that trusted the leadership teams I was part of over the years. When someone works with you through good times and bad, they are putting their trust in you. Without that trust, the teams I was part of could not have achieved anything resembling the success we had over the years. A truly big thanks to all of you. So, although I am excited to spend more time with family and traveling, I will miss the day-to-day interactions with all the caring, driven people with whom I have worked. All of you shaped who I have become and how I will live my life going forward. Thanks for a great journey!